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George Evans was in the army in 1945. He was in the 1st Seventh Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

He was in the infantry – a private soldier. He says it was the worst time in the world…

In 1944, George was travelling with his company when he came across a pile of bodies from the Hitler Jugend Division.

They buried them – but it changed George’s attitude to fighting and he decided for the rest of the campaign he would fire over the heads of the opposing side…he became a pacifist.

As they travelled through Europe, liberating the towns they came through it became more and more apparent the war was drawing to a close.

George was making his way through northern Europe – as he puts it – digging holes. He says a slip trench was a soldier’s friend.

On the day before VE Day, he had dug his trench, gathered his blankets and settled for the night. In the morning he was met with the news the Germans had surrendered and the war was over.

He made for a farmhouse a couple of fields away. He went in, shouted, but there was no answer. On the sideboard was a bottle of Schnapps. He swapped it for a packet of cigarettes he was carrying and set off back to his trench.

One sip was not enough and George felt obliged to finish the bottle. He passed out and slept for the next day and night.

When he woke and went off to find his breakfast he was given the news he was on leave but he had missed the transport.

He set off to hitch to the coast, finally caught up with the lorry and got back to England.

Image: George then, and now

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